A while back, fellow Mermaid author Carlene Love Flores dropped me a line to tell me about a really cool project her neice was doing in school.

“Alex’s 8th grade class is doing a group assignment where they have been asked to design a new cover of one of their favorite books and then all these new covers will be made into a quilt. My niece decided to do Enchanted.”

Unfortunately, the Enchanted square was not selected for the quilt…but that doesn’t make it ANY LESS AWESOME. In this era of cover reveals and cloverflipping, I am honored to have such amazing fan art in my corner!

So, to celebrate this week’s release of Enchanted in paperback, I present to you: Alex’s fabulous new Enchanted cover!

Please gush in the comments accordingly. Thanks!!!

I totally LOVE this frog. And the heart! Just like when I sign my books! So awesome.

If you (or someone you love) has designed a new fan cover for any of my books, please don’t hesitate to share! xox

I have always admired artists with a sort of fangirl squee appreciation. I’ve had boyfriends and best friends who were artists. I have a wish list of artists I’d love to have design my book covers…and some have! I can stare at paintings for HOURS. Everyone who brings me to art museums eventually regrets it. (I’m SO GLAD I went to the Tate Britain BY MYSELF.) I adore these people because they possess a coveted skill that I do not.

At least, I never thought I did.

Sure, I’m passable at Pictionary, and I’ve done a few really awesome fluke things (like the header on this website). But I’ve always wanted to be one of those kids who sat down and sketched out a picture in ten minutes.

I was kicking back old school (literally) at the afterschool program this week, and some of the girls had a bit of an art club and were drawing manga. Now, I’ve never drawn manga in my life. Sure, I traced Betty & Veronica back in the day, but I didn’t have Sailor Moon and friends to get all excited about. Sure, I said to myself (and them) I miss art. This would be fun!

So I drew these:

and

Yes, I drew them from a picture in a book, but I did not trace them. I showed them to my new middle school girlfriends just like I would have back then, as if I had discovered a newly-acquired magic power. Because WOW, these are awesome! (I mean, for me.)

The little girl inside me is all happy, as if a fairy granted a wish I made twenty years ago.

But lo, I cannot do art right now BECAUSE I NEED TO FINISH THIS NOVEL. You are all allowed to commence with the butt-kicking. xox